Information Request about Barcelona Public Primary Schools

Do your children attend a public primary school in Barcelona? Would you be willing to share some key information about the school to help other international families choose the right school for them?

Choosing a primary school when you may not be familiar with the local system, or even speak the local language, can be a daunting task. It certainly was for me! Now, with the generous help of parents who have already been through this experience, I would like to compile a list of public primary schools in central Barcelona as a resource for international parents.

Of course, there is basic information about the schools on the Consorci d’Educació de Barcelona website, and that is a good place to start – but a summary of the school in English based on the experience of a fellow international parent would be a big help.

The information would be focused on what us foreigners often want to know about a school: Languages, methodology, atmosphere etc, plus basic location and school contact details to help with further investigation.

I won’t publish any names so you can be brutally honest (but please be brief!). Feel free to participate even if someone else has already done your school – everyone has a different perspective.

For now, let’s limit this to public primary schools (P3 to 6th Primary). Make sure you tell me which district as I will list the schools by district.

Tell us about your public school:

Use the questions below as a guide and either leave the info as a comment or email me annette@barcelonafamilylife.com) and I will add your comments about your school. I won’t add your name so you can be honest. Try to include the information that international parents would be most interested in and be brief.

I’ve done my daughter’s public school first as an example:

The school is mostly traditional in it’s approach, which means teacher-led activities and a lot of structure. However, they’ve started to introduce a few more progressive practices, like “espais” where class groups are mixed up and children can choose their own activities.

If your child started in P3, how was the adaptation process?

To be honest I found this quite difficult and traumatic. My daughter seemed to be ok but seeing many children being handed over to teachers every morning in tears was pretty hard for me. Parents were only allowed to stay in the class for an hour on the first day, then it was cold turkey. There was little communication from the school, and in fact it seemed that they thought I was odd to even ask what my three-year-old did all day. I had to rely on my little daughter for information. It got easier as she got older.

Does the school differ from the standard language offer?

One hour a week of English is introduced from P4. Spanish is introduced in primary (from 6-7 years old). There are a couple of teachers at the school with a good level of English.

Are there many international families at the school?

Yes! It’s probably got more international families than your average international school. This was a real plus for us.

Does the school community provide a welcoming atmosphere to international families?

I didn’t find it easy to find my feet with the school at the beginning, I’ve found there is a bit of a barrier between families and the school management. However, the other families have been very welcoming and there is quite a nice community atmosphere at the school, where everyone pitches in for celebrations etc.

Would you recommend the school to an international family?

I would recommend it on the basis of there being lots of other internationals and a nice community atmosphere, but not so much on methodology. I would also like to put in a good word for the food, which is excellent.

Now it’s your turn! With your help we can create a resource for parents so that hopefully they won’t find it as daunting as we all did! Paste the questions above into the comments (or use this contact form) to get started.